The Queers Beyond The Valley… of The Assfuckers Hopeless By: Eric G. No matter how wimpy and sensitive punk continues to grow, there will always be bands like The Queers, who, despite being older than your dad, will churn out silly, numbskull pop punk until their guitars are buried with them in punk rock hell. […]

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Spring The Last Goodbye March By: Eric G. Spring is part of that retro-French-pop contingent, where fashion and taste are almost as important as the music itself. There are throngs of imitators trying to capture this mishmash of light, dreamy pop, sixties art, and ultra-modern lifestyle, but they pale in comparison to bands like Spring, […]

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Six By Seven The Closer You Get Mantra / Beggars Banquet By: Eric G. Everybody knows that a bass guitar should never be played through a wah-wah pedal. Six By Seven breaks this rule by the third song on its second album, The Closer You Get. It’s a forgivable mistake, though, and Six By Seven […]

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Fantastic! Sun: What A Wonderful Word! Aquatic / Riviera By: Eric G. Twee French pop is something of a cliche these days because of all the American indie rock imitators, so it’s kind of strange to hear the real thing (or what purports to be the real thing). Fantastic! is another French pop band obsessed […]

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Tracker Ames Film Guerrero By: Eric G. Tracker plays country-tinged indie rock for those with a little blues in their blood, but the blues here doesn’t always sound quite real. You can sniff out everything from Neil Young to Slint on this Portland, Oregon quartet’s debut album, which is a mix of indie country, post-rock, […]

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Future Bible Heroes I'm Lonely (and I Love It) Merge By: Eric G. If I had to pick the weakest Stephin Merritt side project I’d have to say it’s Future Bible Heroes, hands down, and I firmly believe this is because Merritt doesn’t write the music himself (as he does in all of his other […]

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Shellac 1000 Hurts Touch And Go By: Eric G. It's amazing how many people are jealous of Steve Albini. Jealous of his bulletproof reputation as some sort of an underground God. Jealous of the fact that people kiss his ass no matter what. Jealous of not knowing about him or his bands until everyone else […]

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